1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic sound generating system and more particularly to a musical instrument pickup apparatus for a musical instrument, such as a guitar.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Electronic sound generating systems are utilized in musical instruments for picking up and amplifying the sound of the instrument. The musical instrument may be any type of instrument that produces vibrations. These instruments include microphones, string type instruments, reed type instruments, and the like.
The related art systems generally include transducers for picking up the vibrations of the instrument. The transducers pick up the vibrations and convert them into an electrical signal. Related art transducers include magnetic, piezoelectric, single-coil, humbucking, and infrared types. These systems all have disadvantages and drawbacks which are obviated by the present invention.
The magnetic type pickup systems have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,293,372 by S. Vasilach, U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,213 by Iodice, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,240 by Aaroe and others. Generally, in magnetic pickups, electrical signals are produced in response to the strings traversing the lines of flux from a permanent magnet. However, the magnets in these systems tend to distort the sound of the musical instrument. For example, strings of a musical instrument may be distorted by the magnet causing them to vibrate unnaturally, creating a distorted sound.
Piezoelectric type pickup systems have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,073,203 by C. R. Evans, and by others. In these systems the piezoelectric material is typically mounted under the bridge of the guitar preventing the vibrations from being optimally captured. Accordingly, the sound from these systems tends to be flat rather than full-bodied.
Single-coil pickups are well known in the art. The coil pickups are susceptible to electromagnetic interference, thereby degrading the audio quality of the sound. For example, these pickups capture a 60 cycle frequency distortion, or hum, from the surrounding environment. The related art solution to this problem is a humbucking coil pickup.
Humbucking coil pickups generally use coil wound in different directions to cancel the effects of the distortions. That is, part of the coil is wound in a counter-clockwise direction while the other part of the coil is wound in a clockwise direction. The humbucking coil does reduce some of the unwanted distortion. However, the pickup also produces coloration. Coloration involves a loss of high-frequency response and dynamics and has a more boomy and muffled sound. Accordingly, the sounds that can be produced by the instruments are limited and the instruments cannot achieve the sound made from the single-coil type pickups.
Light systems have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,449 by McClish, and others. These systems operate on the reflectivity of light. Placement of the lights and a light sensitive element is critical in the operation of these systems. Accordingly, the sound produced by these light systems is limited by the location of the system.
Finally, microphone systems are also used as pickups in the related art. The problem with these systems is that they tend to pick up extraneous acoustic noise. Accordingly, the sound of the musical instrument being amplified is distorted.
Additionally, the related art systems are limited by where the pickups can be mounted. For example, the piezoelectric pickup system is mounted under the bridge. Also, the related art systems are typically expensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive flexible electronic sound generating system and, more particularly, for a musical instrument pickup apparatus for a stringed musical instrument such as a guitar that obviates one or more of the problems associated with the related art.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
The present invention provides an electronic sound generating system and, more particularly, a musical instrument pickup apparatus that provides clear and distortion free sound or distortion reduced sound, thereby providing the best sound quality.
The present invention also provides the pure sound of a single coil pickup without the 60 cycle distortion or hum, without losing the flexibility of the instrument in creation of sound. That is, full-frequency response and dynamics, without any interference from external sources.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages, the present invention employs microwave field as medium to pick up the sound. An oscillator generates and forms microwave field round the sound source, such as a string or a reed. When the instrument is played, the sound source vibrates. The vibration of the sound source changes the frequencies of the electromagnetic field around the sound source. Such changes are detected and output as an electric signal. The present invention enables clear and pure sound pickup and reproduction without coloration or degradation of sound quality.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.